Religion and Materialism Impact on the Spread of Global Consumption Culture - Coursework Example

Running head: Religion and Materialism impact on the spread of global consumption culture Name: Institution: Abstract The goods are always manufactured so that it can satisfy the needs of the consumers and on the other hand, there are some things hinder how the [product circulate and flow in the market. The major is the consumer decision and behavior towards the product. The decision that the consumers always make is always based on making their lives better. On the other hand, their behavior is how they will react to the product whenever it is brought in to the market. The reason for this reaction has brought the marketers to want to know what, how, where and why the product is not flowing in the market. This study is known as the consumer behavior. The reason behind all these is to come up with the decision as to why the buyers make decisions to buy other products and leave others. This behavior can be implicated by the demographic or environmental factors, cultures such as religion and materialism. Therefore, this paper is going to make establish the reason why this happens and how the materialism and religion affect the important aspect of consumer decision making. This paper is to determine the how religion and materialism influences the spread of global consumption culture. The first thing that paper will determine is the meaning of the terminologies and the meaning of consumerism. The paper will also look at the how materialism impact global consumers and religion. On the other hand, this will be compared to the consumer habits of the Arab nations. The Arab nations as it is known is home for the Muslim community Introduction Materialism is a term that refers to the era that is ending and paving way to the one. there are other people that talk of materialism to be an obsession that rises to something, this might refer to money, wealth, showing off or possession. A person that is materialist is the one that believes that the satisfaction in life is brought about by consumption. Consumerism is on the other hand referred to as the art of purchasing an item that will inurn results to happiness. Consumerism there is the consumer society that talks of the place or the area whereby there is dedication of time which intern there is expenditure of money on items and goods (Levin 1985). On the other hand, the consumer society is the area where people think of how they are going to put their money into practice and taking of goods to be a tool that shows that they are worth more than the basic needs and requirements. By doing this, the owner will be given the time of showing of the prestigious nature and the identity he deserves. A perfect example is when an individual takes time to purchase a watch that is way up the reach of a common citizen or in other words, the watch is said to be expensive in the eye of the public, and this item will give him a positive appraisal, identity and self-esteem. Moreover, the watch is not for the intended purpose of telling time but for identity. This type of lifestyle is known as the “conspicuous consumption”. This culture of luxurious lifestyle is not practiced on this century only but also during the beginning of civilization. During the days of the Egyptian empires and the roman kings, it was noted that only the people who were connected to the royal families, had the opportunity of indulging into the practice of consumerism. This shows that they wore clothes that depicted their social welfare and their status and class in the society. Nonetheless, consumerism is seen to be one dangerous element that drives the community because it leads to excessive consumption. Moreover, the resources are depleted from the environment because of consumerism. The explanation for this is because consumerism strains the environment. On the other hand, this is the reason behind the inequity that takes place globally. This inequity between nations can be explained by the existence of the affluence in the western and developed countries gaining control over the developing countries. Furthermore, these countries retain their status while the other countries remain hungry. This can be explained by the quote by Karl Marx, ”The pursuit of luxury and positional goods while others go hungry is unjust” – Karl Marx This type of perception has been noticed to be the leading factor that encourages the difference and inequity between generations. The reason is, if a generation tends to take up all the existing resources, the coming generation will be deprived of what to consume in the future. On the other hand, there is some social values that are lost through consumerism globally. This will intern affect the culture and the entire society. Another angle at which this paper looks at the concept of consumption is through the economic theory and consumption. one economic aspect that is the main determinant is the aspect of scarcity. This aspect creates a notion that proclaims that in order have the resources in the future; there should efficient use of it. This is because the resources in the world are not sufficient enough and therefore its use should be regulated. By doing this, one will be maximizing the value of the product so that its use will be limited. On the other hand, there should be promotion of increasing consumption since this will be increasing profits and this can only be applicable if the utility of the individual is increased. Therefore, consumption, which is high, is usually equated to happiness of the consumer. One of the driving forces of the economy is consumption. and in return it provides the individuals with the urge of wanting thrive more in obtaining better things by dedicating their energy and time. This incentive gives the individuals the zeal to work harder. It is also believed that through consumption, one is in a position of investing and also have a chance of getting a job opportunity. These job opportunities are not for the consumer only but also for the person who is also involved in the implementation of the opportunity. Utilitarian views are advocated by the economic views. This is clearly shown by the fact that there is competitiveness and maximization of profits in the market. Furthermore, this factor tends to be one major factor that leads to efficiency in the market. However, when there is maximum competitiveness and profit maximization, there can be unemployment and also the work experience will deteriorate. Nevertheless, this concept is relative since and it promotes efficiency, which on the other hand, will end up providing happiness. Therefore, when using the name efficiency, one will be promoting profit maximization and justification that in the end will be promoting maximization of consumption. Nevertheless, other beliefs such as religion are known to be the hindrance of bulk consumption and promoter of limited consumption. this is used in controlling the majority and sustain disparities which on the other hand will have support from the wealthy elite. Certain religious aspects that are seen to be useful to the wealthy, will always have support from the wealthy compared to other aspects (Bedeian 2008). For example, in the beginning of the twenty first century, the European nations used Christianity to maintain and control the majority from the minority. This is clearly described in the book by J.W Smith known as “Economic Democracy; Political Struggle of the 21st Century.”On the other hand, Buddhism and Jainism have been seen to be on the forefront on carefully controlling the consumption of products in Asia (Clore 1983). These control by the religious belief, has seen the consumption of goods being limited. By restricting the consumption of goods, the political field gained control of this and it emerged that the government used this as a tool of staging their dominance. Another aspect that promotes limited consumption of goods is when the resources are low. This is in regards to materialism. This is not necessarily when there is limited resources but when the ability to extract the resources is scarce. Whenever this happens, the consumption of product plummets and hence interferes with the consumer behavior and decision. Nevertheless, the advancement in technology has really facilitated the existence of resources in the market. This has boosted the consumer behavior in a positive note. Another element that has promoted the consumer behavior in regards to resources production is the fact that urge of dominance and control of the resources. At the same time, there is control of the production of the resources and the asses to them. This has seen people being referred to as wealthy and these are the people who control these resources. This revelation shows that there is control of the consumer behavior by the wealthy. These wealthy people, are seen to be spending lavishly spend and on the hand, the poor people are seen to be oppressed (Richins 1992). This shows that by control of the resources, there will be a trade route that will be benefiting from this. Moreover, it can be concluded that if there is control of the resources there will be control of the consumer behavior. In consideration to religion factor to global consumption, this paper is to look at the case of the Arabian nation. This is going to look at the relationship of religion non-Arab and Arab consumers. There have been many differences that have been noted in the past between the two. The Muslim men express a lot of materialism compared to their female counterparts. The female usually have the higher level of materialism that is personal while men have the general materialism. There has also been a discovery that the Arab nation also have a lot of value of consumers when it is a question of vanity. On the other hand, they had a higher level of concern when it is a question of expressing their physical appearances. This was to let the people determine their class and status in the society. Nevertheless, the Muslim community will always concerned about their achievements and they also have a different perspective on their achievement. Nonetheless, it is through their achievement that they will contribute positively or negatively to the global consumption. The aspect of religion is a highly anticipated determinant of consumerism this is because it regulates what the people eat, what they where and how they behave. Religion is also important because of the way it control the fashion industry because of the taboos. Consumption of expensive clothes that are in the fashion industry is regulated by religion hence low consumerism. In addition according to bailey and Sood (1993) they conclude that Muslim impact the rate of consumerism this is because it regulates the consumer knowledge on the products (Marshall 1993). On the other hand, the Muslim consumers always portray a great aspect of innovation. They are also good consumers when it is a question of great deals and promotions. Moreover, if there is any new product that has been introduced in the market, be sure that it will do well in the Muslim market. Conclusion In this paper, there are some fundamental aspects that have popped up that are in relation to materialism and religion and how they are influenced by the global consumption. It has also been realized that consumerism is greatly influenced by the notion that can be influenced by religion and the cultures and how they are great determinant to consumerism. More over through this paper, one will be able to see the relationship between maximization of profit and maximization consumption. References: Alon, Ilan and John R. McIntyre, eds. (2005), Business and Management Education in China: Transition, Pedagogy and Training, Singapore: World Scientific.(Alon 2005) Bedeian, Arthur G. (2008)Caveat Emptor: The Gourman Report. 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